Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Lally Pia | MD Pia. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Lally Pia | MD, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’re complete cheeseballs and so we love asking folks to share the most heartwarming moment from their career – do you have a touching moment you can share with us?
When a military coup in Ghana leads to the abrupt closure of Lally Pia’s medical school, she is left stranded there, thousands of miles away from her family in California, with no educational prospects or money. Adding to her turmoil is her discovery that her American Green Card has been botched, which means she has no country to call home. But a Sri Lankan priest told Lally that she would one day become a “Doctor of Doctors” —and she is intent on proving him right.
This sizzling multicultural roller coaster illustrates the power of self-determination as Lally, a young immigrant with a drive to succeed, takes on obstacle after obstacle—an abusive relationship, the welfare state, and a gruesome job where she has to dismember human bodies—in order to fulfill her dreams. A story that will resonate with anyone who has faced cultural and immigration hardships, The Fortune Teller’s Prophecy is a nail-biting journey across continents, through hardships, and into ultimate triumph.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I am a child and adolescent psychiatrist and award winning memoirist, but my path to this current job was beset by challenges (detailed in my memoir)
For my medical job, I work for a county medical organization and provide psychotropic medications if needed. My patients are low income children, often from foster homes. They have family backgrounds that are often traumatic, often filled with physical and sexual abuse and the vast majority have symptoms resulting from post traumatic stress disorder. Most have anxiety and depression as well as ADHD. I am a firm believer in the power of therapy and family work. I request a trial of medication only if therapy and family work alone fail. My goal is to eventually get my patients to a place where they improve to the point that I can can eventually take them off all their medications. This may take months, and occasionally years for severe trauma, but it is heartwarming to see their substantial improvement. Even the most severely traumatized children will usually get a lot better over time.
I have always wanted to be a writer as well as a doctor. This dream recently came true with the publication of my memoir, THE FORTUNE TELLER’S PROPHECY: A MEMOIR OF AN UNLIKELY DOCTOR. In it I describe a life that spans four continents, an immigration snafu, being on welfare, the path out of a toxic relationship and the hurdles I faced through medical school and psychiatric residency training. I hope my story will touch people, inspire them and give them hope when they considerer giving up. If I succeed with this, I will have achieved my dream. The last sentence of my memoir reads:
“Most of all I want those I care for to know that when life seems unsurmountable there’s always, always hope.”
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
When I was age 22 and found out I had been issued the “wrong” green card for the US, I had no money, no educational prospects, could not work and was told I had to wait for up to two years for the “correct” green card. My family had moved to California, but I was stranded in Ghana with nowhere to live. Close friends in Wales, UK, volunteered to be my sponsors. It was a tremendous helping hand after a devastating turn of events. I decided to volunteer as village organist in Parkmill, South Wales. In this way I turned my mishap into something positive and I remained their organist for several months and grew the congregation in the small town.
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
I had to learn the inherent danger in trying to hold on to a ten-year marriage when all indications were that I should draw a line when the relationship broke down and become abusive. I was trapped in this toxic marriage with two small daughters under age three. When my husband told me he had accepted a job in England I had a significant decision to make: should I continue in the relationship, or make a new life for myself even if it meant I had to face financial hardship and single parenthood? I chose to remain in the US to bring up my two toddlers alone while my husband left to England. I ended up on welfare as my husband did not provide consistent child support. In retrospect, this was perhaps the most singular decision I made; one which demonstrated to my children that they should always learn to stand up and fend for themselves and one which subsequently launched my own path to medicine.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://lallypia.com/
- Instagram: lallypiamd
- Facebook: https://lallypia.com/
- Linkedin: https://www.LinkedIn.com/in/lallypia/
Image Credits
Timothy Pia